Breastfeeding Mom’s Reply Goes Viral After Being Told To ‘Cover Up’

AUSTIN, Texas (CBS Local) – A Texas mom has gone viral on social media for her clever response to someone telling her to “cover up” while breastfeeding.

Melanie Dudley was vacationing with her family in Mexico when she decided to breastfeed her four-month-old baby in the back of a restaurant dining room. “I was on vacation in Cabo San Lucas with my entire family and a man asked me to cover myself,” Dudley told Yahoo Lifestyle.

Instead of obeying the stranger’s request in the 90-degree heat, the 34-year-old took out a breastfeeding cover and threw it over her own head.

The mother’s reaction has become an instant sensation on Facebook after Carol Lockwood, a friend of Dudley’s mother-in-law, shared the image on July 31. “I’m SO over people shaming women for nursing!!!” Lockwood wrote in a post that has been shared over 200,000 times.

“Breastfeeding is hard enough,” Dudley added. “This is another layer we don’t need to deal with.”

Breastfeeding in public is legal in all 50 states, however public policy on mothers covering up reportedly varies from state to state.